Reference card · All five blocks · SEA Bridge Institute of Entrepreneurship
☐ Confirm who the client is and who the customer is — written down explicitly
Confusion between client and customer is the most common early mistake
☐ Confirm the expansion question in one sentence — specific enough to be wrong
Vague brief = vague research. Write it before opening any sources.
☐ Confirm target market — one market at a time
☐ Read all existing client materials before first meeting
☐ Create project folder: Research / Interviews / Canvas / Memos
☐ Open Market Expansion Canvas — fill in client name and target market on day one
☐ Set up GTM-RL template — score at end of Block B
☐ Set up interview log — one row per planned interview
☐ You are here to find what is true, not confirm what the client hopes is true
☐ Your cultural context is a professional input — your market reading is part of the deliverable
☐ Flag anything in Canvas or GTM-RL that does not fit — that feedback improves the tools
☐ Searched client on: website, LinkedIn, news coverage, partner mentions
☐ Listed two to three things the client has genuinely built well — with evidence
These are your opening talking points in the meeting
☐ Identified top two to three competitors or comparable organizations
☐ Noted at least one external tailwind in the client’s favor
Market growth, policy support, cultural timing, demographic shift
☐ Noted gaps visible externally — markets not entered, areas competitors have moved on
☐ Run a quick Porter’s Five Forces read on the target market
Competitive rivalry, threat of substitutes, buyer power, supplier power, new entrants. 10 minutes.
☐ Written one-paragraph summary of client’s current position
☐ Completed FISHE × CSTO map — all five capitals assessed for target market
☐ Applied Assets × Capability rule — not just what they own, but what they can deploy
☐ Identified the bottleneck capital — lowest score = overall readiness level
☐ Completed initial GTM-RL scores — honest, not aspirational
1–9 per capital for the specific target market
☐ Question list prepared — strengths first, gaps second, hypotheses third
☐ Documents or contacts needed from client listed explicitly
☐ Canvas sections 0 and 1 drafted — ready to update during the meeting
☐ Market size in USD with source year — two independent sources
If sources conflict, note both and explain why
☐ Key growth drivers — minimum two, with specific evidence
☐ Top three to five competitors named with business model and gap identified
☐ Customer behavior confirmed — discovery channel, payment method, decision factors
☐ Regulatory requirements named — relevant laws, licensing, content restrictions
☐ Country-of-origin signal confirmed — how the market perceives the client’s home country
☐ Google Trends run for category keywords — in local language, not English only
☐ eCommerce bestseller scan completed for category in target market
Sort by best selling. Note price range, top sellers, review counts.
☐ Social community benchmark — largest community in category, follower count and engagement rate
☐ LinkedIn competitive scan — headcount trend and open roles for top two competitors in target market
☐ Every claim has: organization name, report title, year, and URL
☐ Data older than three years flagged explicitly
☐ Free-tier data limitations disclosed where relevant
☐ "What research could not answer" paragraph written — these become Block D interview questions
☐ Interview plan covers all three tiers — partners, experts, and the client’s actual customers
☐ End users included — not just institutional buyers
For education engagements: students, not just administrators
☐ Minimum 10 interviews planned across three tiers
☐ Outreach sequence: warm introductions first, referral chain, then cold outreach
☐ Interview guide built from Block C research gaps — each question traces to an unverified hypothesis
☐ Insight card completed within 24 hours
☐ Cultural context field completed on every card — not left blank
☐ Each key insight written as one complete sentence with evidence
[Finding] because [evidence] — not a quote, not a vague observation
☐ Hypothesis update field completed — which Block C assumption did this confirm, contradict, or complicate?
☐ All insight cards reviewed together — affinity mapping completed
☐ Signal strength counted per theme — number of interviews that contributed
☐ Contradictions identified and noted as findings, not problems to resolve
☐ Three to five synthesis conclusions written in the specified format
☐ Cultural context section written as a standalone section in the synthesis memo
☐ Applied the So What test to every section — each finding connects to a decision
☐ Recommendation states a position
If it contains "explore," rewrite it. That is not a recommendation.
☐ Three scenarios represent genuinely different strategic paths
Each names the single assumption that drives it
☐ Every recommended action tagged to an A–E phase
☐ Cultural context section written — named, evidence-based, specific to target market
☐ All six sections present and complete
☐ Every claim cited: organization, title, year, URL
☐ Section 6 ("What research could not verify") present — makes the report honest
☐ Cultural context embedded in Section 3
☐ Executive summary leads with the recommendation — conclusion first
☐ Six sections present, all within length guidelines
☐ Cultural context is Section 6 — named and specific
☐ Reads clearly to someone who did not do the research
☐ All insight cards included — one per interview, all fields completed
☐ FISHE × CSTO map included
☐ Market Expansion Canvas — all sections completed
☐ GTM-RL — initial and updated scores both present, bottleneck identified
Use it before submitting each block deliverable and before the final package. Items you cannot tick are research gaps or open questions — flag them explicitly rather than leaving them blank. An honest incomplete is more useful than a checked item backed by no evidence.
SEA Bridge supports companies in Wellness & Longevity, Food & F&B, AI & Digital, Creative Economy, and Education across Southeast Asia — from market diagnosis through to go-to-market execution. We bring both the methodology and the network to make things move.
Get in touch: team@seabridge.space
Kasper-Tanakrit Sermsuksan is the Founder of SEA Bridge, Dean of SEA Bridge Institute of Entrepreneurship, and a Visiting Lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Engineering (Computer Engineering). Learn more →
